About Blood Money:

• Blood money’, or ‘diya’, finds footing in the Islamic Sharia law and is followed in countries that incorporate these laws in their legislation. 
• Under the rule of ‘diya’, a select quantity of a valuable asset, primarily monetary, has to be paid by the perpetrator of the crime to the victim or the victim’s family if the latter has died. 
• The custom is practised predominantly in cases involving unintentional murder and culpable homicide. 
• It is also invoked in murder cases wherein the victim’s kin choose not to retaliate through ‘qisas’ (a way of retribution under the Sharia).
• The end-goal, as the law says, is not to put a price tag on human life but to alleviate the plight and suffering of the affected family and their potential loss of income.
• However, it is to be noted that even if the concerned parties reconcile through ‘blood money’, the community and the state will retain the right to impose a deterrent punishment, including penalties.
• In its contemporary applications, ‘blood money’ is upheld in several Islamic countries with factors such as gender, religion, and nationality of the victim coming into play.
  • In Saudi Arabia, for instance, the traffic regulations specifically mandate payment of ‘blood money’ to heirs of the victims who die in road accidents. In addition, the perpetrator shall be liable to a prison term. 
• What’s India’s stand on ‘diya’?
  • Provisions for the grant or receiving of ‘blood money’ do not find a place in India’s formal legal system.
  • However, the system does provide a way for the accused to negotiate with the prosecution through ‘plea bargaining’.
  • Though the concept cannot be directly equated with ‘blood money’, the scheme lays out a procedure whereby the defendant agrees to plead guilty for a particular offence perpetrated by the accused in return for a concession from the prosecutor.
  • Introduced through the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2005, plea bargaining comes with an array of limitations unlike ‘blood money’, which has a broader purview.
• For instance, plea bargaining can be taken up only for offences that are penalised with imprisonment of less than seven years.
• It cannot be invoked if the accused has been previously convicted for a similar offence.
• Besides, the provision is not available for crimes against women or children aged below 14; heinous crimes such as murder or rape; and offences involving socio-economic conditions, including civil rights.
• Moreover, the accused has to voluntarily come forward to plead guilty, and must not be coerced.
  • However, on the lines of ‘blood money’, plea bargaining may also allow for the victim to receive compensation.

Q1: How much is Diya in Islam?

The amount of Diya (blood money) in Islam varies based on country, legal interpretation, and specific circumstances. However, according to classical Islamic law (Sharia), the standard Diya for an adult Muslim male is typically set at 100 camels, 200 cows, or 1,000 gold dinars (approximately 4.25 kg of gold), or 12,000 silver dirhams (approximately 42.5 kg of silver).

Source: TH

About Indian National Science Academy (INSA):

• The INSA was established in January 1935 with the object of promoting science in India and harnessing scientific knowledge for the cause of humanity and national welfare.
• The foundation of the Academy, earlier known as the National Institute of Sciences of India (NISI), was the outcome of joint endeavours of several organizations and individuals, and the Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) playing a leading role in this regard.
• It was inaugurated on 7 January 1935 at Calcutta and functioned with its headquarters at Asiatic Society of Bengal till 1951 and thereafter shifted to Delhi.
• Objectives:
  • Promotion of scientific knowledge in India, including its practical application to problems of national welfare.
  • Coordination among Scientific Academies, Societies, Institutions, Government Scientific Departments, and Services.
  • To act as a body of scientists of eminence for the promotion and safeguarding of the interests of scientists in India and to present internationally the scientific work done in the country.
  • To act through properly constituted National Committees, in which other learned academies and societies may be associated, for undertaking scientific work of national and international importance which the Academy may be called upon to perform by the public and by the Government.
  • To publish such proceedings, journals, memoirs, and other publications as may be found desirable.
  • To promote and maintain liaison between Science and Humanities.
  • To secure and manage funds and endowments for the promotion of science.
  • To perform all other acts that may assist in, or be necessary for the fulfilment of, the above-mentioned objectives of the Academy.
• Acting as a link between the scientific community and planners, it advises the government on critical issues relating to science and technology.
• The academy also serves as a forum for interactions among scientists within and outside the country and recognizes outstanding young scientists,engineers, and technologiststhrough the award of medals/prizes and by providing modest financial support for pursuing research.
• Senior scientists are honoured through election to its Fellowship.
• The Academy has established exchange programmeswith different overseas academies to facilitate visits of Indian scientists to research institutions abroad and of foreign scientists to India for lectures/scientific discussions.
• It was designated as the adhering organization in India to the International Council for Science (ICSU) on behalf of the Government of India in January 1968.'

Q1: Who founded the Indian National Science Academy?

The Academy was established on 7th January 1935, as the National Institute Of Sciences Of India, in Calcutta, in the premises of the Asiatic Society with Sir Lewis Fermor as the founder President (1935-36). Prof. Meghnad Saha was elected as the first Indian President (1937-38).

Source: TH

About Mud Volcano:

• It is a small volcano-shaped cone of mud and clay, of height usually less than a few meters and often a few decimeters.
• The craters are usually shallow and may intermittently erupt mud.
• These eruptionscontinuously rebuild the cones, which are eroded relatively easily.
• Some mud volcanoes are created by hot spring activity where large amounts of gas and small amounts of water react chemically with the surrounding rocks and form boiling mud. 
  • Variations are the porridge pot (a basin of boiling mud that erodes chunks of the surrounding rock) and the paint pot (a basin of boiling mud that is tinted yellow, green, or blue by minerals from the surrounding rocks).
• Other mud volcanoes, entirely of a nonigneous origin, occur only in oil-field regions that are relatively young and have soft, unconsolidated formations.
  • Under compactional stress, methane and related hydrocarbon gasesmixed with mud force their way upward and burst through to the surface, spewing mud into a conelike shape.
  • Because of the compactional stress and the depth from which the mixture comes, the mud is often hot and may have an accompanying steam cloud.
• Mud volcanoes are not real volcanoes and are not as hazardous as real volcanoes since they can only emit warm mud and only very locally (a few hundred meters around them). 
• The largest mud volcanoes actually do pose hazards, but not of the usual volcanic kind. Instead, the sheer volume of mud erupted can flood the landscape, displace people, and bury infrastructure and agriculture. 
• Approximately 1,000 mud volcanoes have been identified on land and in shallow water.
  • In Europe and Asia, mud volcanoes are known to exist in southeastern Ukraine,Italy, Romania, Azerbaijan, Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia, and China.
  • In North and South America, mud volcanoes have been documented in Alaska, California, the Island of Trinidad, Venezuela, and Colombia.

Q1: Is there any mud volcano in India?

One of the most famous mud volcanoes in India is located on Baratang Island, which is part of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Tinsukia District in Assam is another location where mud volcanoes have been found. These are located in the Namrup and Makum areas.There are reports of mud volcanoes in certain parts of Arunachal Pradesh, though they are not as prominent or well-documented as those in Assam and the Andaman Islands.

Source:LM

About Electrokinetic Mining: 

• It is a novel technique which uses Electrokinetic i.e the application of a direct or alternating electric field to accelerate the migration of movable species, such as metals, water, and particles.
• Issue with present technique:
  • Currently, heavy rare earth elements (HREE) are dominantly mined from ion-adsorption rare earth deposits (IADs) discovered in South China, and the regional mining produces and supports 95% of the global demand of HREEs.
  • However, the conventional mining applies excessive usage of ammonium-salt-based leaching agents to recover HREEs from IADs, such technique exhibits low efficiency and devastating environmental impact on the local eco-system. 
• Advantages of Electrokinetic Mining
  • It reduces leaching agent usage by 80%, and energy consumption by 60%.
  • High recovery rate: Its recovery rate exceeds 95% which marks a breakthrough in sustainable mining.
  • It can simultaneously help reduce the environmental impacts and improve the recovery rate of REEs.

Q1: What is electrolysis mining?

Electrolysis uses a direct electric current to create a chemical reaction. This process is used to produce pure copper metal in the final stage of copper extraction from ores after being removed from the ground.

Source: STD

About Central Suspect Registry: 

• It is an initiative to strengthen fraud risk management by creating a registry of identifiers.
• It was created based on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (NCRP).
• It contains data of 1.4 million cybercriminals linked to financial fraud and various cyber-crimes.
• It has been developed by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C), and can be accessed by states and UTs as well as central investigation and intelligence agencies.
• The registry was developed with collaboration from the banks/financial institutions and using it as a central-level database with consolidated data on cybercrime suspects.

What is the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C)?

• It has been established under the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to deal with cybercrime in the country in a coordinated and comprehensive manner. 
• It focuses on tackling issues related to cybercrime for citizens, including improving coordination between various LEAs and stakeholders.
• The centre is located in New Delhi.
• Functions:
  • It acts as a nodal point in the fight against cybercrime.
  • It identifies the research problems and needs of LEAs and take up R&D activities in developing new technologies and forensic tools in collaboration with academia / research institutes within India and abroad.
  • It prevents misuse of cyberspace for furthering the cause of extremist and terrorist groups.

Q1: What is the Samanvaya platform?

A web-based module called Samanvaya Platform to act as One Stop Portal for data repository of cybercrime, data sharing, crime mapping, data analytics, cooperation and coordination platform for Law Enforcement Agencies across the country.

Source: IE

About Sydney Funnel-Web Spider: 

• Scientists have named this 9-centimetre (3.54 inches) long species as Atrax christenseni.
• The new funnel-web species has earned the nickname "Big Boy" and was first discovered in the early 2000s near Newcastle, 170 km (105 miles) north of Sydney.
• Characteristics
  • It is a shiny, dark brown to black spiders with finger-like spinnerets (silk-spinning organs) at the end of their abdomen.
  • Its venom glands are a lot larger and its fangs are a lot longer.
  • Only the male Sydney funnel-web, which carries a much stronger venom, is responsible for human deaths.
• Habitat: They are found in bushy suburban areas, open and closed sclerophyll forests and woodlands, often on south or east-facing slopes or in shady gullies.

What is a funnel-web spider?

• These are one of the most dangerous arachnids in the world.
• There are 36 described species of Australian funnel-web spiders and they are currently placed in three genera: Hadronyche, Atrax and Illawarra.
• The spider has venom, which is filled with 40 different toxic proteins.
• Its raw venom is the best way to make life-saving antivenom.

Q1: What's the Most Poisonous Spider in the World? 

According to the Guinness World Records, the Sydney funnel-web spider, Atrax robustus, is the most dangerous spider to humans in the world.

Source: IT

About Hydroclimate Whiplash: 

• It is a rare meteorological condition wherein an extremely wet season is succeeded by an extremely dry season.
• How does it occurs?
  • It’s kind of this paradox that as the atmosphere gets warmer, both the amount of water vapour in the atmosphere can increase, and the deficit of water vapour in the atmosphere can also increase exponentially.
  • Consequently, as the atmosphere warms, it is able to hold much more water – for a longer period – before it is eventually released as precipitation.
  • It is this relationship between global warming and the atmosphere which leads to the extended periods of dry spells and more intense rainfall when it eventually occurs.
• Impacts
  • Increases the number of droughts and floods.
  • Fires created by the dry condition exacerbate respiratory and cardiovascular diseases through their polluting smoke.
  • Human health: Flooding creates conditions for waterborne illnesses such as cholera, leptospirosis
• Such ‘hydroclimate whiplash’ conditions have increased by 31-66 per cent in three-month periods (sub-seasonal) and by 8-31 per cent in 12-month periods (inter-annual) across the world since the middle of the 20th century.

Q1:What is a hydroclimate?

Hydroclimate is the scientific field that brings together hydrology and climate, including the impacts that water and its processes have on Earth's climate, and the impacts of climate patterns and change on the global hydrological (or water) cycle.

Source: DTE

About Atomic Energy Commission (AEC):

• It is the governing body of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Government of India.
• AEC was first set up in August 1948 in the Department of Scientific Research, which was created a few months earlier in June 1948. 
• The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) was set up on August 3, 1954, under the direct charge of thePrime Minister through a Presidential Order. 
  • As per this order, all businesses of the Government of India related to atomic energy and to the functions of the Central Government under the Atomic Energy Act, 1948, were directed to be transacted in the DAE.
  • DAE encompasses all the areas related to power and non-power applications of atomic energy. 
  • The Department has the mandate of development of nuclear power technology which includes exploration, identification and processing of uranium resources and atomic minerals, fabrication of nuclear fuel, production of heavy water, construction and operation of nuclear power plants, nuclear fuel reprocessing and waste management. 
  • DAE is also responsible for research and development of fast reactors and fusion technologies, accelerator and laser technology, advanced electronics and instrumentation, materials science, biological sciences, etc.
  • As part of non-power applications of atomic energy, the Department carries out cutting-edge research and development for the application of isotopes and radiation technologies for health care, food & agriculture, industry, and the environment.
• Subsequently, in accordance with a government resolution dated March 1, 1958, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) was established in the DAE.
  • The AEC is responsible for formulating the policy of the DAE.
  • The secretary to the government of India in the DAEis ex-officio chairman of the AEC.
  • The other members of the AEC are appointed for each calendar year on the recommendation of the AEC chairman and after approval by the Prime Minister.
  • Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra

Q1: Who is the first Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC)?

Homi Jehangir Bhabha was the first Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) of India. He served from 1948 to 1966.

Source: ET

About Kokborok Language:

• Kokborok is a language of the Borok people, geographically known as Tripuris.
• It is one of the State’s official languages of Tripura, notified on January 19, 1979.
• It is a Sino-Tibetan language and can be traced back to at least the 1st century AD when the historical record of Tripuri kings started to be written down in a book called the Raj Ratnakar. 
• So far, the term Kokborok is known to first occur as ‘Kok-boro’ in 1897/98 in an early primer on the language, Daulat Ahmed ‘Kokboroma.
• In 1900, Thakur Radhamohan Debbarma spelt ‘Kokborok’ in a published grammar of the language.
• At the time, various British Political Agents, District Officers, Sub- Division Officers were known as linguists – they called this language Tipperh, Tipura, or Tipra Language.
• The word Kokborok is derived from the word ‘Kok’, meaning ‘verbal’, and ‘Borok’, meaning ‘people’ or ‘human’.
• According to the 2011 Census report, the number of Kokborok-speaking people is 8,80,537, which is 23.97% of the total population of Tripura.

Q1: What is the Roman script?

Roman script, also known as the Latin script, is the writing system originally developed by the ancient Romans. It is the most widely used writing system in the world today and is the script used for writing English, as well as many other languages such as Spanish, French, Italian, German, and Portuguese.

Source: IT

About Fast Track Immigration – Trusted Traveller Program: 

• It is an initiative to speed up the Immigration clearance process for eligible persons from the following categories: Indian Nationals and Foreign Nationals holding OCI Cards.
• It was first launched at Delhi’s IGI Airport in 2024.
• Purpose: It has been introduced with the purpose of facilitating international mobility with faster, smoother and secure immigration clearances.
• To enroll in the scheme, the applicant has to register online on the portal with details and documents.
• One can sign up after successfully authenticating their identity through mobile OTP and email verification. One needs to ensure that the Passport is valid for at least 6 months at the time of applying for FTI-TTP.
• Applicants found eligible, will need to provide Biometrics (fingerprint and face image) in addition to the required information as per the data fields provided in the application form.
• Biometrics of the registered applicants will be captured at the Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) or at the time of passage through the airport. The registered passenger has to scan the boarding pass issued by the airlines at the e-gates and then scan the passport.
• Validity: The FTI registration will be valid for a maximum of five years or until the validity of the passport, whichever comes first.
• It will be implemented at 21 major airports across the country. In the first phase, in addition to Delhi, this facility is being introduced at seven major airports—Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kochi, and Ahmedabad.
• Nodal Agency: The FTI-TTP is implemented through an online portal with the Bureau of Immigration being the nodal agency.
• Significance: Once Indian and foreign citizens with OCI cards enroll and become members of the Fast Track Immigration -Trusted Traveller Programme, their immigration clearance will be faster, easier, and more secure. 

Q1: What is the fast track immigration trusted traveller programme?

It is a significant step under the 'Viksit Bharat' 2047 initiative to provide world-class immigration facilities to travellers, making international travel seamless and secure. Initially, this facility was launched free of cost for Indian citizens and OCI cardholders.

Source: PIB